


Pride & Prejudices

by Biweatherman



Category: Groundhog Day - Minchin/Rubin
Genre: Bisexual phil connors, Homophobia, Trans Character, Transphobia, ftm character, trans Phil connors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-22
Updated: 2017-08-22
Packaged: 2018-12-18 19:15:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11881038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Biweatherman/pseuds/Biweatherman
Summary: Phil finally takes down all his walls.





	Pride & Prejudices

**Author's Note:**

> Although I am Transgender I know everyone's experiences are unique so please message me if I accidentally offended you and I will try and fix any mistakes I may have made.

Phil admired the trans flag Rita had painted on one of his cheeks and the bi flag she had painted on the other in the mirror one last time before heading out to Pride. Phil was filled with a mixture of excitement and nervousness, it was his first pride and while he couldn't wait to be finally stand proud with his community all the fears that had stopped him going before started to bubble up inside of him. 

During the centuries in the loop and the months after it he'd learnt to take down walls and start to be himself around people but going to Pride would be taking down a wall he'd kept up for a long, long time. As soon as he'd finished transitioning he'd perfected an act that pulled on all the masculine ideals Phil held true and told barely anyone he was transgender. Standing with his community would be taking down this barrier for all to see and Phil just hoped he'd be able to do it and that this was the right decision. 

When Phil arrived at the parade he realised he had nothing to fear and was caught up in the energy and excitement. After less than fifteen minutes Phil couldn't believe he'd waited this long, everything was perfect. He felt part of a community, something he'd only really experienced once before during the final months in Punxsutawney and that was tinged with despair and sadness. This experience was made up of pure elation. 

Well it was until he heard a stranger in the crowd call out his name and he felt like ice was running through his veins.  
"Phil? Phil connors. From the weather."  
The voice shouted and as heads turned and the crowd parted to make way for the voice Phil clenched his hands into fists but made sure to keep them by his side, not wanting to provoke any violence. He looked for Nancy or Rita but couldn't find them and remembered distantly that they had gone to get food. When the stranger finally stood in front of him Phil saw it was just a kid and while he didn't unclench his hands he adopted an easy smile and started to feel slightly reassured. This reassurance only increased when he noticed the gay pride flag pin the kid was wearing and the several pride bracelets they wore and then they spoke.  
"Hey. I'm sorry to bother you. I was wondering if I could get a selfie?"  
"Sure, kid. I like your pin" phil replied with a smile and finally relaxed again. 

After that selfie it was like a floodgate had been opened and phil was swarmed with people asking for selfies or for him to sign something. Some were his age, people who actually watched the show, but the majority were kids and teenagers who only knew him through the fit parents, and he heard several astonished kids tell him they couldn't believe the man their homophobic, transphobic and generally just shitty parents watched was one of them. 

Phil felt ecstatic that even though he couldn't fix the situations of those kids he could show they could still be someone and he hoped he was providing them a lifeline, a secret link, a way to feel pride whenever he was on screen. 

However he couldn't stop the shame he felt at his selfishness, at the fact that before he'd been so self-centred he'd only thought how scared he was and not how scared others must be and how he could help relieve that fear, if only just a little. 

He thought nothing could bring him down from the happiness he was feeling until he checked his email for fan letters at work and saw a cascade of emails, some calling for his resignation or an apology others just outright threats. Phil clicked on a link to an article someone sent him, not sure why he even did it but some part of his mind drove him forward through morbid curiosity. The link sent him to the website of a local tabloid with an article with the title Phil Connors Weatherwoman. The article took a scarily deep look into his past, including having one of the few photos that existed of him before his transition, when he'd come first at the swimming gala. Phil wanted to throw up and his heart started to beat way too quickly as just one thought filled his brain. They knew. Everyone knew. No one was going to see him for who he was anymore, they weren't going to see Phil Connors the weatherman they were going to see Phil Connors the freak. Every feminine aspect he'd managed to hide would be brought into the limelight. The world would know and he'd never be seen as normal, he'd never be seen as Phil and he thanked the Lord that his deadname had not been published, though he assumed it was only a matter of time. They were going to take everything from him, strip away who he was till he was another bit of nothing they could brush away and make disappear. 

"Phil." Rita said in a voice that made it clear this was not her first time calling him.  
"How are you?" She asked, putting a hand on his shoulder, knowing it would help ground him. She took one look at the article on the screen before gently taking the phone out of Phils hands.  
"Don't listen to that crap. Wait," she said reaching for her phone and scrolling through some things before showing phil the hundreds of selfies with him and general positive messages that had been left online for him.  
"See. You really helped some people."

"Th-thank you. Really, I needed you. How, how did you know I was getting these messages."

"Common sense and we had a meeting about it. There's been calls from above for you to do an apology, I told them it was stupid and then cited some bullshit about appealing to younger viewers to keep ratings up. It was stupid but they bought it so that's good."

"So I won't have to apologise?" Phil said still worried and uncertain and it broke Rita's heart to see the man she always knew to be so full of energy to look so small and dejected. 

"Of course not. I'm not the worlds best producer for nothing"

"Associate producer" Phil replied with a small smile "though you're better than any real producer I've ever known" he continued more sincerely. 

The rest of the day continued on as normal as it could be. Rita kept checking in with him, and he hated it. Hated he'd made her worried again, hated that he'd made other people's lives worse and more stressful again. However the day was monotonous enough that Phil could burry himself in the work he loved and not think about what was going to happen when he left. A multitude of threats, at least one would be genuine. 

Rita was waiting for Phil by the exit, and he knew she must have been waiting for a while. He'd been dreading leaving so he had offered to help out with any odd job he could think of. Rita hadn't told him he was waiting, if she had he might have left sooner. She stood up and wordlessly followed him out the door, before starting to make small talk, the fact she was walking him home unspoken. 

They had barely made it five minutes when the attack happened. They had turned off the main road to a slightly more residential area when the shouts started coming from a group of three young men. Rita turned to the nearest one and without pausing to think kneed them in the balls before punching him in face. Phil immediately went into attack mode and launched into what was becoming a serious fight. 

Next thing he knew Larry was standing next to him, having just paid bail for both Rita and him. The left side of his face was in agony and he pitied the makeup writing who would have to hide the bruises he could feel forming there. His jaw clicked worryingly when he moved it but he could speak and hopefully he'd still be able to do his job. Rita appeared, with a bloody nose but apart from that she looked no worse for wear. 

"Thank you for having my back. It's approximately one am and we don't have work tomorrow, you want to get McDonald's? I'll pay. It's the least I can do." Phil offered with an aching smile, truly grateful. Yes he was scared and terrified this would be high school and college all over again but the fact he and friends next to him, helping him, proved it wouldn't be.


End file.
